


Be Her Valentine

by raindrop_rouge



Series: Cupid Angels AU [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Cupid Angels, Eren is cheeky, Eren is good, IsaFar fluff, Levi is awkward, Levi is bad at his job, Matchmaking, Multi, Queen Historia, Teenagers, Valentine's Day, angel au, angel!Eren, angel!Levi, but they're equally competitive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 16:51:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7114267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raindrop_rouge/pseuds/raindrop_rouge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi’s not all that great at being a Cupid’s Angel, but Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to redeem himself. It would go a lot better if Eren’s plans for the Angels’ most important day didn’t go directly against his though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Silence hung over the throne room. Queen Historia was trying to go easy on him, Levi supposed. But there was no way around it. His results of the past year had been, quite frankly, terrible. Terrible enough for his Queen to have most likely considered revoking his title and sending him back to the Superior Council for reconsideration of his assigned functions. The sleek white wings folded on his back stiffened.

Truth be told, Levi never understood why, as a young Angel, he had been offered to Queen Historia’s Kingdom. Why it had been decided that he would serve his eternal existence as a _Cupid_ ’s Angel. He had thought his main ability was to stay strong in the face of adversity, and therefore had expected to become a Guardian Angel. Sure, he had lacked in multi-lateral planning skills, which might have made him miss that calling, but then surely his sharp tongue and wit could have led him down the path of the Quarrel Spirits. Not that he wished for that either, though.

But a Cupid’s Angel? Now that had been downright laughable. No one had dared laugh though, it remained a highly respectable function after all. Levi certainly didn’t have time to laugh before being none too gently thrust into training, to become an expert in all things sappy, cheesy, and other representative variations of the word “sentimental”.

Empathy, care and a genuine desire to expand the horizons of inner happiness. So were the values that defined the typical Cupid’s Angel. And so were _not_ the values that stood out in Levi’s personality. Or at least he thought not, but hey guess he fooled the Superior Council.

“I believe you are aware of… your weaknesses, Levi. And if you do know what went wrong this year, you should be capable of sparking and influencing many happy and lasting relationships in the year to come. In any case, you’re going to need to convince me you can.” Queen Historia was finally getting to the point, what would be done with him now. After a whole year without a single successful match to his name, Levi was not sure he’d be capable of much though. He awkwardly adjusted the quiver hanging off his shoulder, and his fingers tensed around his arc, symbols of his allegiance to her.

Queen Historia had spoken so far in her well known angelic tone, and had made her request in the sweetest of voices known in the realm. Her smile was as warm and beautiful as a summer morning’s first sunrays, and her pastel gowns flowed around her and blended with the cloud-like texture of the throne room floor, completing her image of a Goddess as splendid as dawn. Queen Historia, the Goddess of Love, flawless inside and out. So her people believed her to be, and so she strived to appear day after day.

She had most everyone fooled, but not Levi. If she really were made of sugar and spice and everything nice, she would not care so blatantly much for Ymir, who really should have been stripped of her status as Cupid’s Angel after all the crap she pulled last Valentine’s Day. There was nothing sweet about Ymir in his opinion, and the fact that Queen Historia kept her close for reasons other than training was a sure sign that there was more to the Goddess than met the eye. The thing was, Ymir’s status was probably the only reason Levi still got to keep his right now. Queen Historia could not banish him from her Kingdom without raising questions about what should be done about Ymir too.

“Levi… This might be a bit difficult to hear, which is why I decided to make this audience private. I have addressed the Superior Council to see if there might not be more suitable options for you in the future,” Queen Historia announced.

Levi bowed his head in shame. He’d expected it, but it was a terrible blow to hear that he truly was failing miserably at his calling.

“However, they insist you are indeed meant to remain under my care. They have decided you are to remain a citizen of my realm no matter what. Do you understand what this means, Levi?”, his Queen asked him. Levi’s eyes widened in horror.

As long as he kept his status as Cupid’s Angel, all would be well. He’d keep his wings, his stupid bow and quiver full of arrows, and would carry on floating in and out of realms, dimensions and planes, free to spread love wherever he went ( _joy_ ). But if he didn’t, and couldn’t regain standing somewhere else, he’d be trapped within the Kingdom. Sure, it was a vast Kingdom, there would be plenty of places to go, plenty of people to meet. He’d find a job in the administration or in the academy. Lead a quiet life.

The exact opposite of what he wanted for himself.

While he still had to learn to enjoy his job (and actually do it properly), it meant the cosmos to him to be able to cross through lands far and wide. Having known that freedom and having it revoked… Levi was beginning to panic.

“Levi, I do not believe giving up your status as one of my Cupid’s Angels is anything you’d desire. It does pain me to have to consider it. It is a title you should bear with great pride, and your successes reflect on this Kingdom as a whole. You know that. So,” her voice gained strength as she spoke her next words, “I would like you to redeem yourself.”

Levi’s eyes shot up. Queen Historia smiled at him. “Nothing terribly complicated,” she said, leaning back into her throne of flowers. “Just very traditional. On Earth, certain areas will be celebrating Valentine’s Day soon enough. You know what would look perfect on your record? I think it would be very sweet if you could get someone to ask someone else to be their Valentine before the actual day. What do you think, Levi? Won’t you do that for me?”

***

And so Levi had obtained the exact coordinates for the dimension concerned, and had drifted around for a couple of days in search of the perfect target.

According to his research, this human world would give him the advantage of going around unnoticed. Of course, humans would not be able to see him regardless, but _these_ humans were particularly oblivious to the concept of different planes of existence and links between them. No matter what he would do, he would do without raising suspicion. Which was a good thing, because Goddess knows how wrong everything just goes when targets realize they are being messed with ( _“guided in the right direction,_ ” his teachers claimed). On the downside, some of the Elders had written that these humans were particularly challenging to deal with precisely because they lacked the imagination and will to _believe_. That made them skeptical towards everything, which made getting them to fall in love, and try to give it a chance, especially tricky.

Which might explain why Levi hadn’t run into a single other Cupid’s Angel since he got here, a month ago.

He had two more weeks left before Valentine’s Day when he began taking action, to get his target to do what Queen Historia had requested.

Farlan Church was by all means an ideal target. He already had a cute best friend, they would probably be compatible right? (Levi sure hoped so). She had an innocence about her, despite her fiery temperament. Levi would have wanted to protect her like an older brother would have, but Farlan had a maturity and capacity to reflect upon things that completed her personality well. Levi hadn’t paid much attention to his matchmaking classes, but had the innate ability to weigh people’s strengths up accurately. Farlan and the girl probably would balance each other out well.

Most importantly to Levi, who could not risk another match ending in a disastrous fall-out, Farlan had a good head on his shoulders and… Isabel, was it?… already knew him well. There was a good chance that even if Levi failed ( _I won’t fail, I won’t fail_ ) things wouldn’t blow up too dramatically for them. Levi clenched his jaw. His job was 100% meddling. As long as they completed successful matches, most other Cupid’s Angels would never be held responsible for the harm they may cause other beings, generally labeled as no more than “collateral damages”. Of course, most Angels’ hearts would bleed for their victims, but not necessarily enough to get them to learn from their mistakes. And never enough to get them to fix things. Better not to meddle at all without orders, Levi had come to figure.

But today he did have orders, orders that happened to emanate directly from Her Majesty. Still, he was going to go with minimal risk. Getting Farlan to ask his best friend to be his Valentine was ideal. Yes, a plan involving best friends, a confession, and a special day was highly unoriginal. It was basically like a first-year exam all over again. But Levi needed results. Farlan was good-looking, according to this society’s standards, reliable, caring and polite. There was no way this could go wrong ( _absolutely no way at all, nope_ ).  

And so Levi had begun using classic methods on him. The dark haired Angel only ever applied what he learned in his IP classes (Idea Planting, or as he liked to call it, his inception classes) in his work. It was basic manipulation, to put it bluntly, but Levi liked to think that at least everyone still got to act according to their own free will. He had little time to get Farlan to see Isabel as potentially more than a friend. First, he needed to make them feel closer (and hope they’d enjoy that proximity). Make them act all couple-y. And make sure they enjoy it. That’s what his textbooks said. Levi was no innovator, he did not have signature methods or any ideas that would be published and stored in the Kingdom’s Grand Archive one day, but he could put past strategists’ ideas into practice very well.

As much as he could, Levi preferred to avoid interaction with beings from different Kingdoms, but there was no way around negotiating with the Weather Workers. While Isabel was around Farlan, Levi would arrange for the wind to blow through her hair just so, to have rays of light sun through the clouds and illuminate her face just right, and even went so far as to trap them under the sudden rain so she’d have to huddle close to Farlan under his umbrella (of _course_ he’d have an umbrella at hand, Levi was proud of his target). These were methods his Queen would approve of.

It was all well and nice, but it was also going to take forever to lead to anything.

Levi sighed. He was a not a creative Angel. A really popular method used by other Angels was dream infiltration, but the idea made him shudder. Dreams were highly unpredictable dimensions, making it both dangerous to go there and unlikely to yield the desired effects. More importantly, passing a message through dreams had to be done in a coded way; be too obvious and all efforts would be ruined. To use the code properly, the Angel would have to be well acquainted with symbolism and emotions they would cause. And here was Levi’s biggest issue: he was not always sure he really understood the emotions he was trying to instill in others. He’d done all his readings, he knew exactly what love was for different peoples and cultures. Also, as a Cupid’s Angel, that knowledge was supposed to be instinctive anyway. And yet… apparently feeling in practice was something else. Oh well. For now, all it meant was that he was going to need to find other strategies.

As it turned out, it was fairly simple to get Isabel and Farlan to spend time alone. It was easy to get friends to leave them alone at parties, easy to make the only seats left the ones in the nice corner by the window, easy to make Farlan the only one available to pick Isabel up after late cheer practice… Levi was momentarily taken back. They already acted like a couple. Probably even had for a while now. What if Farlan was planning on asking Isabel to be his Valentine anyway, without his influence? Levi chewed on the inside of his cheek. There would be no way to know for sure, anyway. _Calm down, Levi._ Queen Historia would probably validate his accomplishment regardless. Fingers crossed (not that he believed in that crap, he knew how randomly the Luck Pixies worked).

Time was flying by, and Levi needed to move on to step two of his plan (chapter 2 of his textbook). Farlan had to realize that Valentine’s was right around the corner, and that yes, he wanted to spend it with Isabel. Fortunately, from what he’d seen of Farlan so far, the young man would not need too long to plan on asking his friend. Once he’d have his mind made up, Levi’s job would practically be done.

But as he glided behind Farlan on his way to classes one Monday morning, scouting for elements of the urban landscape he’d be able to work with, an unexpected new parameter came into play.

It was not difficult for Levi to spot the only other Cupid’s Angel floating around.

Levi froze upon spotting him. Not out of surprise from running into one of his peers. Not because the Angel was following the group of humans Isabel walked to class with (he really should have taken note of that though, thinking about it later). No, he froze out of a completely different feeling. One that he didn’t bother to think about at that moment, enraptured by the sight before him.

The other Angel looked exactly like an Angel of love should look like. He was the ideal ethereal being, an otherworldly dance of lights and shadows sweeping over his honey-colored skin, the shimmer of the midday sun upon Caribbean waves illuminating his eyes, and Mother Nature Herself must have gifted him with the earthly brown of his hair, alluring chocolate locks swaying gently in the breeze. His pure white toga fluttered loosely around strong shoulders and fell entrancingly upon slim hips. There was still a certain softness to his cheeks that underlined the youth of the Angel.

Levi shook himself out of his stupor. This changed nothing to his plans. The other Angel was so focused on the group of humans before him, he had failed to notice Levi. That was good. Levi had every intention to ignore him, he had a plan his future depended on to carry out.

The problem was, it appeared very quickly that the “ignoring” part of his plan was just not going to work out.

Levi had been fairly pleased with the increasing ease with which Farlan and Isabel would make physical contact. She had been leaning against him more, he’d adjust her coat collar and pull her closer to him on the sidewalk to avoid other people. Levi needed to estimate if at this rate, he had any chance of being safe on Valentine’s Day. The first time Levi had trapped them under an umbrella there had been a slight air of unease. Just for the sake of tracking his progress he arranged for the same scene to be recreated.

Just as Isabel had started shuffling closer to Farlan to avoid the rain, Levi heard gleeful laughter coming from behind him.  Before Levi could react, the other Angel swooped in and yanked the umbrella out of Farlan’s hands, tossing it away in the direction the winds were blowing. Isabel, Farlan and Levi all shared the same wide-eyed, jaw dropped expression of shock, staring helplessly after the emancipated umbrella. For different reasons though: the humans were suddenly enjoying a surprise freezing shower, and Levi was struggling to comprehend _why the fuck would he_ do _that?_ Now instead of some nice almost-but-not-quite-really cuddling time together, the pair of humans would be spending some quality shivering time together. Levi had read somewhere that humans associated feelings of cold and hot with negative and positive emotions, what if this put his weeks of effort to waste? Oh no no no he was getting anxious again and when he got anxious-

“Oi brat what the hell was that?”, he heard himself shout. Ah yes. That was it. When he got worked up about things that really mattered, _like whether he’d be keeping his status or not_ , he had the slight tendency to lash out at whoever had the misfortune of standing nearby. Well at least here his victim was also the cause of his frustration. Maybe there was some justice in this world.

The bright-eyed Angel’s laughter stopped abruptly, and Levi forced himself to ignore the sudden disappointment that appeared in his heart. Said gorgeous eyes met his own, and widened slightly.

“Oh hey! Didn’t see you there. I’m Eren, nice to meet you,” the younger Angel said cheerfully, large white wings fluttering behind him. His voice was deeper than what Levi had expected from his laughter.

Levi wanted to demand an explanation, why was this kid here, why was he messing with his work, in what dimension would throwing away an umbrella be an acceptable thing to do, was this kid actually qualified to work ( _oh shit wait he_ has _got an arc and quiver_ ), but none of these questions were what left his mouth next.

“Levi.” _Is that all you’ve got, brain?,_ Levi screamed internally. “What are you looking at?”, he spat, uncomfortable with how closely the kid – _Eren_ \- was eyeing his features.

“Oooh… Levi, huh? Yeah I’ve heard about you. I’m friends with Historia,” he grinned.

 _What kind of kid goes around calling the Goddess of Love his friend?_ His confusion and utter dismay at the potential disrespect must have shown on his face, for Eren quickly continued.

“Ah, our families have uhm. Known each other for a long time. Don’t worry about a thing,” he offered as means of an explanation. It would have to do for that topic, for there were more immediate matters on Levi’s mind. But Eren wasn’t done talking.

“It’s funny, I’d expected you to be less… uh. Traditional, in your methods? Wait so you were dealing with the human with the umbrella, right?” He seemed to consider something for a moment. “I dunno, from what I’ve heard, I thought you’d be really clumsy or too pushy or something,” Eren babbled, running a hand through his silky hair. “Ah!”, seemed like his brain had just caught up with his mouth, “I didn’t mean anything bad by that! I meant uh… um… Sorry,” he trailed off.

Levi could feel his anger flare up again, cold and overpowering. “Well excuse you,” he griped through gritted teeth, “but from what I’ve just witnessed you’re clearly the incompetent, _clumsy_ one.” He shot Eren the glare that had made all his instructors think he’d been sent to serve the wrong Divinity.

But Eren carried on completely unperturbed. “What? Nah, you can thank me actually, everything is going according to plan,” Eren had the guts to wiggle his eyebrows at him. Levi looked away, unappreciative of how the sly look gracing the Angel’s delicate features was making him feel.

“What are you talking about,” Levi finally managed to ask, exasperated.

“Oh, I just needed to figure out where those two were at before I did anything more. I was wondering if she would grab his hand to drag him somewhere dry. From what I’ve gathered from her behavior this weekend, she’d be the type to do that. If she didn’t, well I’d make them that much closer by forcing them to find somewhere to dry out together.” A devious grin curved his full lips up. “If I’m lucky he’ll take off his wet shirt, he’s probably ripped under that,” he added with a wink.

Levi gasped as understanding dawned upon him. “You’re… you’re trying to make her fall for him,” he forced through his thin lips, sealed tight in quiet fury.

“Yeah, Historia wants to hear lots of _will you be my Valentine_ ’s this year, I thought I’d give her a hand. It makes us all look good, as a people, you know. Plus by asking for that she maintains her cute sparkles and rainbows loving Princess appearances, and then the Superior Council is less wary of her when it comes to politics or something, I don’t really get all of it- Oh shit. I did not just say that aloud,” Eren clapped a hand in front of his mouth, glancing over at Levi fearfully.

“I knew it!”, Levi exclaimed. Wait. No, he was getting distracted dammit. There was a far more pressing issue at hand.

“Listen kid, I’m sorry, it’s nice of you to want to help Her Majesty but that couple is taken care of. Back off,” Levi said, hoping the kid would leave it at that.

That was too much to ask for.

“No can do. Neither one of them took any initiative when they ran off. There is just enough time left between now and Valentine’s Day. My job here is all cut out for me,” Eren claimed, raising his chin defiantly.

“No it most certainly is not. See, I’m the one who cut out that job you speak of, and I cut it out for myself. I will get _him_ to ask _her_ by Valentine’s Day. Run along and find your own humans,” Levi snarled.

Eren’s eyes flashed with fierce determination, a competitive gleam settling there, a wolfish grin twisting his features. “My objective is already set. _She_ will be asking _him_. Just you wait and see.”

Though this was the exact opposite result of what Levi had been aiming for, he was caught up by that ferocious stare. It wasn’t one you came across often, where he came from. This Eren wasn’t bad at all.

Levi felt hot sparks race through his veins before the challenge.

Only one of them was going to succeed in their mission. It had to be him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The competition based on actually doing their job properly heats up between Eren and Levi.

There was only one more week left until Valentine’s Day before Levi dared make his next move. Eren hadn’t done anything new either. Or at least, not to Levi’s knowledge, and it was making him fidgety.

What with Eren’s brazen first interference, you’d think he couldn’t wait to show Levi up with some other attention-grabbing intervention. Maybe he was preparing something. Something big. Maybe he actually had set some great plan in motion. Maybe he actually could be subtle, and Levi just hadn’t caught on. Actually, scrap that thought, probably not. Was Levi worried? _No of course I’m not worried, why should I be worried, there’s nothing to worry about_. Though, just in case, he decided he’d better step it up fast.

He needed to be able to work with the assumption that Farlan _knew_ the perfect opportunity to ask Isabel out was coming up fast.

Well, Eren would no longer be the only one lacking subtlety around here.

When Farlan walked into his usual lecture hall that Monday, it was like he’d stumbled into a Valentine’s Day commercial. Well… that had been Levi’s source of inspiration. Once the idea had been transposed into reality, it was more like Farlan had returned to his preschool classroom after a long day of arts and crafts.

Valentine’s balloons had been tied to every chair, bringing to life some sort of unnatural forest of giant floaty hearts. Cotton balls had been sprayed pink and stuck to the walls and ceiling in heart shapes. No doubt to create the illusion of more floaty hearts, but anyone honest would say it looked like spiders had eaten cotton candy, and were now spinning messy pink webs. From which liquid glue was still dripping, and leaving grim sticky patches everywhere. Glitter had been dusted all over the floor. Or almost. The desks and chairs had been carefully avoided, so there was actually more of an irregular trail of shiny dust down the rows and aisles. Not a single flower was in sight, however. Flowers deserved nicer treatment than whatever Levi would have managed to do with them here. He wasn’t _completely_ oblivious as to his own abilities. But, he had thought, looking down at his latest chef d’oeuvre of interior decorating, that at least the message was clear. Wake up people, Valentine’s Day is coming. Act like it.

Now, if Levi had any chance at all to begin with, Isabel was definitely going to be on Farlan’s mind. She would be associated with any notion of romance. Levi smiled to himself in satisfaction, snapping shut his guidebook on human psychology for Cupid’s Angels. _Take that, Eren_.

Except Levi flew over to the school the next day to find that Eren had done exactly the same thing. Levi’s eyes narrowed in fury. Surely there should be rules against this, rules to protect the genius he’d demonstrated only one day earlier. _Of course there aren’t_ , he thought while tearing his hair out. _We’re supposed to make as many people as we can as loving as possible. Her Majesty’s advisors would never have imagined that two of us would go against each other_. Come to think of it, this was possibly illegal. Or at least it would be, if the saps above had predicted that such conflicts of interest could even happen. Levi shrugged. Too bad for them.

Taking a closer look at Eren’s work taught Levi two things. Firstly, Eren was better with decorations than he was, as sick as it made him to admit it. The room the younger Angel had given a makeover was undoubtedly classier. Where Levi had placed crumpled up cotton, Eren had strung pale pink lace doilies, and instead of putting balloons everywhere, Eren had simply drawn a few artistic hearts along the sides of the blackboard. It was more minimalistic, but – Levi brought his face right up to the board- upon closer inspection Eren did everything with so much care. He might have actually taken longer than Levi had. Overall, it was less forceful, but more enthusiasm shone through. It actually made Valentine’s Day look like something people could care about without totally embarrassing themselves.

There was some maturity to be found in Eren’s work, maturity he had most certainly not displayed so far before Levi. So the kid was capable of showing sensitivity, there was very clearly love applied to his work. Levi sighed as he reached up to a lace doily. The kid did have desirable traits for a Cupid’s Angel.

It suddenly hit Levi that he was basically admiring Eren’s work by then, and he needed to snap out of it. Mostly because of the second thing he’d learned that morning. Eren must have been keeping track of what he was doing. He’d probably purposely waited for Levi to do something, because Eren believed that no matter what, he could do better. Yes, the bright eyed Angel had most definitely been studying him while plotting his own strategems, ready to adjust to his opponent. Why that sneaky, dishonest little-

“Heeeey theeeeere!” Speak of the Angel. Eren drifted in through a window, all bright smiles and luminous eyes. “Had a chance to check the room out yet? What do you think? It’s good right?” Eren asked innocently. How dare he. “I uh… I did my best,” he added, tugging at his toga.

“Hmm, funny, I feel like I’ve seen a similar concept not too long ago,” Levi hissed through gritted teeth.

“Wha-? Oh yeah! Your work yesterday is actually where I got the idea from!” Eren grinned, oblivious to Levi’s rage. _Yeah no shit._ It was probably pointless to try to make Eren feel bad about his “borrowing” of Levi’s method. To be fair, Levi hadn’t exactly made it up either, this was basic practice. So basic that he probably was the first one to bother using it in centuries, but never mind that.

“I liked it, you know,” Eren stated next, not as obnoxiously loudly. “Uhm. What you did with your room. The balloons had a pretty cool effect.” Eren’s gaze had fallen to the floor. “And you were really dedicated, I mean you spent so long tying those balloon knots into perfect bows…”

 _Hold up_. Had Eren been watching him _the entire time_ he was in that classroom _?_ Did Eren even realize he might’ve just let something important slip? Apparently not. The brunet glanced back up at him, that competitive gleam back in his eyes. “But unfortunately for you, my decorations definitely turned out better!” he shouted, darting back out the window. Before he could answer, Levi heard Eren laugh in glee in the distance, as if this dumb contest of theirs was the biggest excitement he’d ever had in his life.

Levi simply leaned out the window lost in thought. In his own, longer, life, it probably was.

***

The very next day found Levi hating himself for ever thinking that “Eren” and “maturity” could coexist within the same sentence. The fact that they only had five more days before Valentine’s Day was weighing down on him too.

Levi was waiting behind Farlan for Isabel to arrive that morning, as per usual. Unlike per usual, however, she arrived with furrowed brows, something clearly on her mind. Levi had come to learn that Isabel would dump any negativity of the preceding day during the night, and always arrive a clean slate, radiating positivity through a huge smile directed at Farlan. Something was up, and Levi couldn’t help but suspect that the Cupid’s Angel gliding behind her had something to do with this.

For reasons he didn’t really understand, he couldn’t bring himself to ignore Eren’s cheerful greetings. So only after mumbling his own in return did he dart down the path Isabel had just walked.

He didn’t get very far before stopping.  

Ah yes. So that’s what it was. Levi was frozen in front of a crumbling wall. He tried to keep thinking coherently, as felt his sanity crumbling, the radical change of his opinions on Eren all too sudden. There had been something sweet and delicate expressed in the alterations he’d brought to Isabel’s lecture hall.

This, on the other hand.

Levi didn’t really know how to qualify the blotches of spray paint splattered across the old building before him. Eren was definitely not gifted when it came to graffiti art. This was messy. Messy but… well, it got to the point.  He continued to fly towards Isabel’s home.

Eren had apparently decided to contact his target directly ( _who even does that?_ ). This had resulted in the redhead encountering quite a number of not-subliminal messages along the way.

“AsK hiM Out”

“You caN dO it!! <3”

“BelieVe in LOVE <3 <3”.

Wow.

On his way back, Levi caught a final message from Eren to Isabel (he really needed to learn to make his capital letters more distinct from his minuscule letters): “Oh COMe On What are You sO afraid Of?” That was enough.

_Alright Eren. This is so on._

***

Levi really hadn’t needed further encouragement to go big after seeing that, yet Eren had felt the need to taunt him. He’d say things like “You can deal with what I’ve done right? You’re gonna come up with just as much soon, right?” which kept Levi’s blood boiling behind his impassive expression. A part of his brain did note, however, that Eren asked these questions with more curiosity in his voice than challenge or contempt. As if he genuinely wanted to know whether their contest was still on. Well, he was in for a treat.

Levi was not going to even try and up Eren on the graffiti scene. His drawing skills were not worth displaying all over town, and the classroom stunt had been painful enough for, unfortunately, zero results. There had been enough fooling around.

He wasn’t too sure how he’d managed to pull it off, but Levi successfully persuaded (to not say manipulated) a florist to set up a small booth on Farlan’s way to school, near the town’s biggest crossing. There was already a stand selling coffee there.

All of a sudden and without Levi actually having to do anything, the news of this great marketing stunt spread, and some bakeries, travel agencies, and most importantly, more florists all had booths along Farlan’s way. As a potential future customer, Farlan saw more cups of coffee than he really should drink shoved his way for free, but also, a single rose. Levi grimaced as he looked closer. The edges of the petals were already dry and crumpled, and they were probably going to fall off any moment.  But this was actually going a lot better than he had anticipated. He’d hoped Farlan would eventually gather the nerve to buy a bouquet sometime this week, but he wouldn’t mind if he asked Isabel on that very day. A rose was a rose, right? (Farlan had better get something nicer on Valentine’s day though, Levi had standards).

Levi was excited now. Look at him, making Farlan’s job so much easier. With these florists, he’d never have to go out of his way to get Isabel a proper bouquet on actual Valentine’s Day. _So now show some gratitude and ask your pretty friend out do it do it do it_. Levi’s wings were shaking in anticipation, Farlan would probably ask Isabel very gently, and she’d squeal in glee and maybe leap into his arms, and Queen Historia would be so proud of Levi, he’d keep his job _and Eren would get to watch him triumph_.

Levi didn’t even try hiding how smug he was feeling as he and Farlan arrived at the usual meeting spot. Eren raised an eyebrow inquiringly, eyes only turned to Levi at first, but his eyes widened as they fell on Farlan and the flower he was delicately holding before him. Levi could see the gears turning in Eren’s head, the look of panic in his eyes as he searched for something, anything, that could prevent his imminent defeat.

 _Too late, Eren, victory is mine!,_ Levi crowed inwardly. He held his breath as Farlan closed the distance remaining between him and Isabel, watching intently as Eren’s face contorted into pure anguish (ok maybe he was exaggerating a little, but clearly Eren didn’t like losing), as everything played out, in slow motion, while Levi’s heart started beating wildly. _This is it. This is it_ , Levi thought, and by the way Eren’s eyes had grown comically huge, the other Angel knew it too.

“Hey Izzy,” Farlan smiled easily, “Look what I’ve got for you.”

_Ask her, come on you’re doing great, buddy, now say it!_

“N’aw, Far, that’s sweet, but I hope you don’t pay to have flowers’ lives brought to an end,” Izzy replied, accepting the rose anyway.

Farlan laughed. “No worries, I remember your stance on the flower business, Izzy, the day I think you need more flowers in your life, we’ll go hiking or something. Someone just handed this to me on the way over. Anyway, what classes have you got this morning?”

“Ugh I don’t even know I need to find someone from my class. Though, check out what I brought for lunch…”

Well. That certainly was anti-climatic.

Levi couldn’t bring himself to start breathing again. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Eren either, staring helplessly after Farlan and Isabel. Sure. Just hand her the rose. While laughing it off, like it’s no big deal, _Oh my Deities what is going to **take**?_ Maybe he should just lie down on the ground. Let life happen. Maybe picking Farlan as a target was a terrible idea, doomed to fail from the start.

As he actually began assessing just how dirty the ground would make his wings, his eyes found Eren’s face. Strangely, that is where he found the only consolation from his agony.

Eren’s eyes had locked into their frozen wide open position. In fact, his whole body had frozen up. At least Levi had convinced someone that he had what it took to fulfill his mission. Eren certainly looked like he’d cut it very close. Slowly, he swiveled around to face Levi. His gaze was full of respect, not a look Levi was used to on Eren. Or just in general, really.

Levi would have been offended by that, had he not been caught up by how the sun reflected off Eren’s pupils. Eren’s eyes were casting a warm light directly upon Levi, not the condescending type of light he sometimes was blessed with by his peers. Levi wanted to believe there was some hint of admiration in there, and not just surprise at the fact he’d almost accomplished something. In fact, the longer he stared, the easier it was to be convinced. Eren’s face expressed nothing but esteem, once Levi had managed to shove aside his negative thoughts. It was a pleasant expression to have aimed at oneself, Levi found. Also, Eren’s face was rather pleasant to keep staring at regardless.

Levi did not immediately realize they had just been floating around staring at each other for a few moments now.

Eren snapped out of it first. His daredevil smile returned to grace his lips again. Right on cue, Levi decided to act like he still had everything under his control. He wasn’t displaying the smug smirk that would go with that act, and made haste to correct that. He could feel that there were cracks in his mask though. That most likely had something to do with the not unwelcome pride filling his heart, following Eren’s approving gaze on him.

There were four days left before Valentine’s Day.

***

Eren should have come to the conclusion that he’d win, after Farlan didn’t even ask Isabel to be his Valentine as he handed her a flower. Realistically, Levi had no chance. And so Levi had thought Eren would have the decency to tone it down. If Levi was going to lose anyway, Eren might as well save them both the embarrassment of taking their game way too far.

Eren didn’t.

Levi found it odd when, one morning, Eren didn’t appear somewhere behind Isabel. And so he found himself wandering into the school buildings. That was a decision he came to regret all too soon.

He’d blissfully forgotten that some schools actually did host thorough and useful sex ed interventions (he hadn’t been in one of the dimensions that did in a very long time). The thing was, the timing was far too suspicious. _Where was that kid?_

That question wasn’t done causing him woe.

Sex ed interventions were supposed to be one or two presentations hosted in the main lecture hall, he’d seen some places sort the attendees by gender, while others did not. The inevitable main event everywhere would be the sweet and innocent-looking old lady distributing brochures, pamphlets and booklets on contraception by the main administrative office. Students would desperately try to make wide detours around her, but none had the heart to not even return her old-lady-smile. And once they did that, they’d be sucked in by some old-lady-force, dragging them right in, next to her table of brochures, pamphlets and booklets. That supernatural force would only release them once they’d listened to an old-lady-sex-ed-lecture and gathered a sufficient amount of documents. “Sufficient” in old-lady standards, which is the same as the “sufficient” amount of food children have to eat before leaving their grandma’s dinner table.

This year, the students would terribly miss the Contraception Lady.

Levi just hoped Eren hadn’t done anything to her in order to replace her with the old (or was he young?) man dressed like a hippy, probably stoned (or drunk, Levi had never learned to identify these states anyway), currently stood in the hallway. Eren was squealing in laughter behind him.

Levi came closer, ready to ask Eren what was so funny, when the man threw something at students walking by. Some laughed and sent thumbs up the hippy’s way, while others ran away. Levi looked down to find that Contraception Lady’s _theoretically_ useful stock had been substituted with a stock of more _practical_ use. That is to say, condoms. Yes. Probably of the cheapest brand out there (schools don’t have a budget for this, do they?), but definitely condoms. Condoms currently being thrown around by a creepy looking fellow, under Eren’s encouragements. There was absolutely nothing Levi could do to stop his expression from shifting into absolute revulsion. Possibly mixed with embarrassment.

Eren managed to stop laughing his pretty head off just long enough to beckon Levi over.

“So? Couldn’t resist checking out what I was up to, huh?” the Angel teased. Levi was not in the mood (when was he though, really).

“What… are you… _doing_?” Levi demanded, forcing his voice to stay calm.

“Hah! I can’t blame you from wanting to keep an eye on my strategy. Or even from trembling in fear right now,” Eren said in a sing-songy voice, dodging the arc Levi tried whacking him with in exasperation. “I mean, it’s time you faced the truth Levi! Even my freebies are better than yours!” And with those grand words, Eren made the hippy chuck more condoms at frightened passer-byes.

Just as Levi was thinking things wouldn’t get any worse, Farlan and Isabel rounded the corner. “Here we go!” Eren cried delightedly, diving back next to the hippy.

Levi was discovering whole new levels of mortification. He never signed up for this. They were Cupid’s Angels, they were only tasked with creating romance and feelings, right? He should not have to deal with this. Or should he? Was this the new generation’s thing? He was too old for this. Of course skipping conferences on innovative techniques was going to bite him in the ass someday.

As Levi struggled to prevent his brain from simply short-circuiting and giving up, the hippy of unidentifiable age called out to Farlan. It could have been beneficial to Levi’s cause for the student to respond confidently, but Levi was honestly just happy to watch Farlan struggle. At least someone else was uncomfortable around here. Farlan hid it better though. He smiled, albeit tensely, and fidgeted ever slightly, preparing to give the man a polite request to leave him and Isabel the fuck alone.

But Eren was having none of that. He rushed over to Isabel and shoved her forward. She suddenly looked interested in whatever the man had to offer. Farlan and Levi turned matching shades of red, while Eren skipped gleefully back to the condoms.

Levi followed Farlan as he backed off slowly, to wait a few steps away while Isabel finished her dealings with the weird-looking man. Even from their strategic retreat, Levi could feel the hyped up atmosphere Eren was creating around the two humans. _Deities have mercy_.

Eren seemed to be doing well though. Isabel’s laughter reached Levi’s ears, the girl was chatting and joking with ease. Before they parted, she snatched a handful of condoms with pride and ceremoniously dumped them in her purse. Levi took a glance at Farlan’s face, and briefly wondered if it was possible for eyes to literally pop out of their sockets.

Hmm. It wouldn’t be impossible for Levi to manipulate Farlan’s thoughts right now. There were options, ways Levi could actually turn this all to his advantage. He just had to think fast.

But then Isabel ran up to Farlan. She had to shake him up a bit before he let himself be dragged off. Levi’s heart sank as she didn’t let go of her friend’s hand while they walked away.

That was basically it then. Eren had found the right techniques to use on his target (Levi suspected Eren would be less scrupulous about the dreams method, but after today, he preferred not to think about it at all). Levi glanced up to see Eren look at his hippy the way a mother would look at their valedictorian child. Yeah. The kid really was in his element. He deserved a win.

Eren looked up and met Levi’s eyes. The brunet’s lips curved up as he shot Levi a wink. The older Angel knew it was time to leave as he felt his cheeks heat up again.

***

It was two days before Valentine’s Day.

Levi flew over the town he’d learned to know over the past few weeks, drifting aimlessly. He could have explored further out. He could have gone and enjoyed the views, while it was still time. Because very soon, it would all be too late. And that thought made him lose any will to stray too far.

It was probably a matter of personalities from the start. Eren had just placed the better bets. Levi had felt safer targeting someone he thought was like him. A bit quiet, a bit reserved. Someone he could understand and therefore help along all the better. But of course, if Farlan was anything like himself, he would never dare ask his best friend out that way. Levi really should have known.

Isabel was the fearless one. Eren was smart enough to see that immediately. Or did he only choose Isabel because he identified with her easily, as Levi with Farlan? Levi heaved his umpteenth sigh of the day. What did it matter. There was nothing more to be done.

Immediately after the condom disaster, Levi had begun to panic. He had gone through all of his guidebooks, but nothing offered him a sufficiently immediate solution. Nothing new came to him either, _what a surprise_.

Of course, he could have gone to Eren and told him everything. By “everything”, he meant what was at stake for him in their little competition. Levi hadn’t failed to note that there was genuine caring behind each and every of Eren’s actions, he probably wouldn’t have gone on and ruined Levi’s life for kicks. Or at least, Levi liked to think he would have been understanding. Looking back, it was Levi’s fault it all came to this. _It takes two to tango, and all that_.

Truth be told, it wasn’t _too_ awful having Eren around for the past few days. He was loud and showy in his ways of doing things, but Levi couldn’t really complain. It was the first time anyone ever brought so much color to his life. He’d learned to respect the dedication Eren devoted to his work. Surprisingly, it seemed Eren had come to see him as an equal as well. Levi really doubted they were fairly matched, but the younger Angel did bring out the best in him. He made him _want_ to do well. If only because of the anticipation in Eren’s eyes whenever they found him each day.

Yeah. It’d been a long time since someone sincerely believed in him.

Which made Levi even more reluctant to tell his adversary about his deal with Queen Historia. The idea of disappointing Eren didn’t sit well with him. That was somewhat odd, after disappointing his Goddess, letting down a fellow citizen really shouldn’t bother him much. Yet the idea was almost worst.

On top of that Levi had to consider the eventuality that Eren might feel horrible. The Angel might blame himself for Levi’s future misery. Eren had acted so far convinced that their competition was all fun and games, and that no matter the outcome, one of them would have made Queen Historia happy. He pulled through believing this was a situation where there’d only really be a win for the Cupid’s Angels. Levi really didn’t have it in him to end that optimistic outlook.

Levi was also worried that Eren would actually try and fix his situation. Eren had proved to be creative in his methods (possibly exceedingly so), it wasn’t beyond him to find a way to. The problem was, Eren would be the one doing all the work, and as merciful as their Ruler was, Levi simply wouldn’t have fulfilled his end of the deal. All Eren really would achieve was sabotaging his own work on Isabel so far. That was not something Levi could ask for.

All in all, Levi didn’t want a pity win anyway. If he said anything to Eren at this point and then ended up winning their game, he wouldn’t feel like he deserved his arc and quiver. And that’s not something he’d be able to hide from Queen Historia.  

Well then. His fate was entirely in the humans’ hands now.

***

On February thirteenth, Levi headed back to Farlan’s home. It would be fitting to follow him around, on his last day away from home.

As he approached, he saw Isabel walk up to the same house. Eren was gliding after her, eyes darting around. He was probably looking for Levi. _Ah. This is it then_. Levi drifted into sight, keeping his face as neutral as possible. Eren’s face brightened up instantly, a broad grin spreading across his youthful features.

It wasn’t the triumphant grin Levi had expected. So Eren hadn’t been seeking him out to gloat. But for what else could he possibly be so happy to see him then?

Whatever. More important things were taking place beneath him. Isabel had rung the doorbell, and hadn’t needed to wait too long before a messy-haired Farlan opened the door. Well, it was pretty early on a Saturday. How in Heavens Eren had managed to get Isabel to be this lively at this hour, Levi would forever wonder. She had already launched herself into a speech that obviously had not been prepared or even vaguely thought of up to this point.

“… I really do like ya a lot… and so, ya know… It could be really nice, don’t ya think?” She was holding his gaze steadily, but her saying “ya” betrayed how forcefully she was trying to sound casual. “So all I wanted to ask ya this morning was,” she drew in a deep breath, and her face split into a wide smile. “Far, will you be my Valentine tomorrow?”

Farlan’s eyes went wide. He even started shaking slightly, but Isabel only took note of his silence, carrying on quickly. “I mean, I haven’t got anything specific in mind for us to do. Like, you’re the one with a plan here. Most of the time,” she said, tugging at her pigtails. “But, um, I’d be happy to just go grab a milkshake and watch a movie. Or something,” she spoke clearly. Apparently she had nothing more to add, as she waited for Farlan’s response.

For the first time since Levi had descended into this world, Farlan’s brain was failing him completely. The speed at which it was processing the new information was made visible, courtesy of the stages of redness Farlan’s face was going through. Eventually he regained control over his mouth.

“Uh… Thank you.” Ouch, _you want to work on that, buddy_.

“You did not just answer ‘thank you’ to my confession,” Isabel glared.

Farlan was suddenly tripping all over himself to make up for that. “Ah, no, uhm, I mean… argh,” he stammered eloquently. He held his tongue long enough to run his hand through his hair, and started over. “Izzy. I- I’d be honored to take you out. On a date. Tomorrow.”

“Why ya gotta be so formal all of a sudden?” Isabel pouted.

Farlan huffed in curt laughter. He then slowly, cautiously, took a step forward, pulling Isabel into a hug.

“Far…?” Isabel asked, trying to look up from where she was held to his chest.

The blond lowered his head to her shoulder and turned his face towards her neck. “I’m sorry, Izzy. I’m just… happy. Really, _really_ happy,” he murmured.

Isabel smiled and relaxed into the hug. “Yeah. Me too, Far. Me too.”

Farlan drew his head back a bit when Isabel’s shoulders starting shaking in laughter. She looked back at him with a cheeky grin on her face. “You know,” she started, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “We don’t _have_ to go out. After all, I’ve been graciously given all we need to keep busy indoors safely this week-“

“Izzy!” Farlan yelped, jumping back and covering his flaming cheeks with his hands. Just like Levi, he’d have rather forgotten that school hippy forever. Isabel’s giggles filled the air around them.

***

Levi was well aware of the goofy smile on his face, but wasn’t planning on doing anything about it. Isabel and Farlan were happily matched, and just looking at them warmed Levi’s heart. He may have even heaved a contented sigh at some point. The fact was, these two humans really were meant to be. His instincts on that matter had not been wrong. The joy at seeing targets blissfully finding each other (or each others) was what Cupid’s Angels thrived on. Speaking of Cupid’s Angels, he wasn’t the only one present. Levi’s eyes sought out Eren.  

The younger Angel was positively beaming. He was glowing with joy, and had the tenderest look on his face as he peered down at the human couple. Levi had to hand it to him. He truly was a great Cupid’s Angel. Levi couldn’t help but hope they’d still see each other, sometimes, after this. He’d like that.

Reality suddenly came crashing back down on Levi. Shit. It was all over now, wasn’t it.

Levi’s gaze swept over the urban landscape surrounding him. Well, he couldn’t let himself have any regrets. He did his very best, made perfectly rational decisions based on the information available to him at all times. But there was no way around it. He had failed to get someone to ask someone else to be their Valentine. This was as far as he’d be going as a Cupid’s Angel. He hoped he’d be able to enjoy one final day of freedom the next day, before having to move back up for good. He’d worry about facing Queen Historia later. He was most certainly not looking forward to the sheer disappointment that would inevitably shine though her Royal expression.

He was drawn from his glum thoughts by Eren’s approach.

“Hey, Levi?” Eren called out shyly. Well, it was just that Eren’s voice was a lot quieter than usual, it might have been shyness. It could also just have been that he didn’t want to disturb the couple nearby. Even though they’d never hear him.

Levi merely grunted in response. Eren wasn’t bad. Maybe Levi could even enjoy his company. But at that moment, it might have been better for Levi to start traveling, this was no time for a chat.

But Eren was persistent. “Good game, I guess,” he said. He tilted his head to the side, trying to catch Levi’s gaze. “I enjoyed this week. A lot. Uhm, how do I say this… You weren’t what I expected. In a good way! Uh- geez that sounded bad and I’m not making any sense,” Eren muttered, frustrated.

Levi smirked. So while he was amazing at getting humans to interact, Eren wasn’t so great at communicating himself, huh? Ah well, Levi wouldn’t really put anyone down for that.

“Ok. Listen,” Eren pushed on. “I may or may not have heard a bit about your deal with Historia.”

 ** _What_**. So had Eren really been trying to get Levi kicked out of the higher functions of the Kingdom the whole time? The thoughts of betrayal cut deep. He had been stupid, so stupid, Eren had never posed as anything but as his opponent this whole time. Levi was the foolish one for trusting him to be better than that, when in fact he truly knew nothing about him. Levi could feel his face contort into an expression of pure disgust and was about to lash out at Eren, but the brunet carried on unaware.

“Well, like, I know she requested you get someone, in this world, to ask someone else to be their Valentine. She didn’t tell me what your reward for accomplishing that would be though,” Eren paused, going through the memory of that conversation.

 _Oh_. Ooooooooh. Ok then. Levi suddenly felt weak, the relief brutally crashing over him. Technically, Eren was still ok with robbing him of some reward, but that was dramatically less grave than what Levi had otherwise considered. It was odd, how horrified he’d been at the idea of Eren stabbing him in the back, come to think of it. So instead of thinking of it, Levi refocused on Eren, who was still rambling.

“Historia does care about you, you know. She cares about all of us. So I thought I’d swing by and give you a hand, sounded like you may have needed one—ah shit I’m so bad at this,” Eren cursed, having casually insulted Levi again. “Anyway, I thought maybe we could help each other out with our selected targets. I didn’t think we’d aim for the same couple, haha,” Eren chuckled nervously, grip tightening around his quiver’s strap, across his chest.

Suddenly, Eren steadied himself, and looked back up, aiming a determined stare at Levi, fiercely flashing green pinning the Angel to his spot. “But in any case, I knew pretty soon after meeting you that you wouldn’t need to get a human to become another’s Valentine. Historia did say anyone would do, you know. I asked her,” Eren looked away, chewing on his lip.

What was his point? “Get on with it. Are you or are you not the reason I’ll be failing to fulfill our Queen’s request?” Oops, guess he still was more on edge than Eren deserved.

Eren sucked in a breath. “I’m the reason you _will be_ fulfilling her request, geez,” he muttered.

The brunet straightened up and forced himself to meet Levi’s cold stare. Cold stare that quickly warmed up upon spotting the blush staining Eren’s cheeks.

“What in Heavens are you saying, Eren?” Levi let the question fade into the air between them. Hope had managed to worm its way back into his heart. Hope that he would be keeping his status, but also hope for so much more. His very own hope, mirroring the one that was painfully obvious, carved into the gemstone-like eyes trained on him.

Eren tentatively moved closer to him, and timidly reached for his hand. The warm feeling that swept through Levi and caused his heartbeat to speed up was more than relief. More than happiness. And suddenly, Levi understood.

_Ah. So this is what our job is all about then._

“Levi,” Eren whispered with a reserved smile, “will you be my Valentine?”

_I’m sure glad I’ll be able to keep it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading n_n <3 
> 
> Comments are appreciated :') 
> 
> Follow me @raindrop-rouge on tumblr~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading n_n <3
> 
> Part 2 will be up very very /very/ soon :)


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